Men’s team goes up against Mountain State on Sunday

The No. 9 West Virginia men's basketball team is tired of practicing against itself.

On Sunday, the Mountaineers will have the chance to face Mountain State, a team it is accustomed to playing in the preseason.

"We need to play against somebody else," said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. "They're tired of pounding on each other."

The game tips off at 1 p.m. and is free for all students with a valid student ID. Tickets for other fans are $16.

"It's going to be great to go up against some new competition," said forward Kevin Jones. "It can get kind of boring sometimes playing against your teammates all the time, so hopefully it will allow us to go out and play hard, and come out with a victory."

Mountain State has been a challenge for the Mountaineers, Huggins said.

In 2007, the Cougars outrebounded West Virginia but WVU pulled out an 88-65 win. Last season in the exhibition game, Da'Sean Butler scored 38 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 98-78 win.

"(The Cougars have) been the national champions, and they've been the national runners-up. They've given us great games the past two years," Huggins said. "It's a great game for us."

The Mountaineers will be tested inside, as they will go up against Mountain State newcomer Paul Sturgess. Sturgess is a 7-foot-8 center from England – the tallest player in the college basketball.

"I've never played someone that tall before," Butler said of the tallest man alive in England.

Sturgess played one season two years ago for Florida Tech University, a junior college. He averaged 2.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in the year. He played in 16 of the 28 games and averaged just 6.3 minutes per game.

He scored eight points, added five rebounds and four blocked shots in his debut for Mountain State this year in the Cougars' second game against Ohio Valley.

"They've got more than a big kid," Huggins said. "They've got Division I caliber players."

Mountain State senior forward Nick Aldridge is considered to be one of the top players in the NAIA after averaging 16 points per game last season. He did not play against WVU last year.

Fellow forward Andrew Lee averaged 15 points per game last year. He had six against the Mountaineers.

Sunday's game will also be the first time for six newcomers – freshman Danny Jennings, Deniz Kilicli, Bryan Lowther, Dalton Pepper and Kenny Ross and transfer Casey Mitchell – to play in uniform for the Mountaineers.

Huggins expects there to be a packed house, despite the exhibition.

"It will be a good opportunity for our young guys to be in hopefully a packed house and just get used to the environment," Huggins said.

There were 9,035 fans in attendance last year for the game against the Cougars.

NOTES

Point guard Joe Mazzulla will not play against the Cougars, Huggins said.

Mazzulla did not play in the team's intra-squad scrimmage last Saturday as he is still dealing with a shoulder injury he suffered last season.

Huggins did say, however, Mazzulla could play this week.

"I just really don't want to play him this week," Huggins said. "He could play Sunday if need be."

The Mountaineers only play one exhibition game before heading into regular-season play. In the past, WVU has scrimmaged Virginia prior to taking on Mountain State, but that didn't happen this year.

Butler was named a candidate for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Wednesday. The award is for student athletes at the NCAA Division I level who are seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.